Thank you for the recognition! I've never considered myself more then just "New to the Hobby" where I have kept up posting to my tank journal thread I started back in 2009. So, to be selected as a ROTM to me is a great honor.
My interests in aquariums and saltwater tanks started way before I ever had a glass box. I grew up in the Florida Keys going out on the water just about every day for over 20 years. My favorite things to do were sailing, windsurfing, and lobstering by hand. Well, I went lobstering with a net and a tickle stick. I preferred snorkeling over diving with scuba gear for them since we went out so often it was just easier to get out and spend the entire day in the water and not have to haul all that gear around.
I can thank my grandfather for all those wonderful years. We would do things like strap up our mask and snorkel to the board and windsurf out to spots to pickup lobsters to bring home and eat. We would often find all kinds of junk on the bottom of the ocean like a little 5hp motor we brought back and fixed up. Then would attach that to the back of a canoe to go out lobstering with at times. It was all about that delicious lobster. When it wasn't lobster season we were out looking for spots for the next year or just enjoying everything the ocean had for us.
I learned a lot about the ocean and its inhabitants by observation and interaction. It became a great interest of mine too and probably took enough marine biology courses to get a degree in it. Which down in South Florida those courses were a blast as it was full of hands on in and around the ocean, bay side, and everglades. Lots of diving, canoeing, and kayaking. It just never became more then a hobby interest of mine though.
Eventually I settled down in the Midwest and started a family and career. My wife talked me into buying my sister-in-law's fish tank in 2007 knowing how much I loved being out on the water and swimming around the reefs. This was a 55g tank and about 6 years ago I upgraded to my current 180g mixed reef tank. During that time I also started up a 20g long mantis tank. My interests has always been around having a mixed reef and will probably never have a tank of the month and don't really strive for one. I've had many ups and downs and it has been those down times I've learned the most. I can't thank everyone on Reef Central enough for all the help I've gotten over the years.
My interests in aquariums and saltwater tanks started way before I ever had a glass box. I grew up in the Florida Keys going out on the water just about every day for over 20 years. My favorite things to do were sailing, windsurfing, and lobstering by hand. Well, I went lobstering with a net and a tickle stick. I preferred snorkeling over diving with scuba gear for them since we went out so often it was just easier to get out and spend the entire day in the water and not have to haul all that gear around.
I can thank my grandfather for all those wonderful years. We would do things like strap up our mask and snorkel to the board and windsurf out to spots to pickup lobsters to bring home and eat. We would often find all kinds of junk on the bottom of the ocean like a little 5hp motor we brought back and fixed up. Then would attach that to the back of a canoe to go out lobstering with at times. It was all about that delicious lobster. When it wasn't lobster season we were out looking for spots for the next year or just enjoying everything the ocean had for us.
I learned a lot about the ocean and its inhabitants by observation and interaction. It became a great interest of mine too and probably took enough marine biology courses to get a degree in it. Which down in South Florida those courses were a blast as it was full of hands on in and around the ocean, bay side, and everglades. Lots of diving, canoeing, and kayaking. It just never became more then a hobby interest of mine though.
Eventually I settled down in the Midwest and started a family and career. My wife talked me into buying my sister-in-law's fish tank in 2007 knowing how much I loved being out on the water and swimming around the reefs. This was a 55g tank and about 6 years ago I upgraded to my current 180g mixed reef tank. During that time I also started up a 20g long mantis tank. My interests has always been around having a mixed reef and will probably never have a tank of the month and don't really strive for one. I've had many ups and downs and it has been those down times I've learned the most. I can't thank everyone on Reef Central enough for all the help I've gotten over the years.
